Species dossiers glossary
Abraded - scraped, skinned worn away by friction.
Achene - one-seeded fruit that does not open to release the seed.
Acidophilous – acid-loving; describes any organism that needs to live in an acid environment.
Acrocarpous – of mosses; bearing the archegonia, and hence the seta and capsule (fruit), at the tip of stem or branch. (also see pleurocarpous).
Acrotelm – actively growing upper layer of a bog consisting of the living parts of Sphagnum and into which vascular plants are rooted.
Acuminate – gradually tapering to a point.
Acute – sharply pointed.
Adaptation - an anatomical structure, physiological process or behavioural trait of an organism that has evolved over a period of time by the process of natural selection such that it increases the expected long-term reproductive success of the organism.
Adpressed/Appressed – pressed close or lying flat against something.
Aeolian - the erosion, transport, and deposition of material by wind.
Aestivate - to pass the summer in a dormant or torpid state.
AFLP - Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms: a gene sequencing analysis technique for rapid high resolution screening of genetic diversity.
Allee effect - when populations at low numbers are affected by a positive relationship between population growth rate and density.
Alleles - alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus, one provided by each parent and determining characteristics such as eye colour.
Allogamy - cross-fertilization in plants. (adj. allogamous).
Allozymes - electrophoretically different forms of a protein, coded for by different alleles of a particular gene.
Alluvium - a fertile deposit of clay, silt, and sand left by river flood water.
Amplexicaul – clasping the stem.
Annual – a plant that completes its life cycle in one year.
Antheridial - surrounding the male reproductive organ (antheridium).
Antheridium (pl. antheridia) – the male reproductive organ in bryophytes, ferns, etc; the antheridia and paraphyses are often surrounded by leaves of special form, the whole then being known variously as the male ‘inflorescence’ or male ‘flower’. (adj. antheridial).
Anthesis - the time and process of budding and unfolding of blossoms.
Anthropogenic - caused by human activity
Apex (pl. apices) - the top or tip of a structure.
Apothecium (pl. apothecia) - spore-producing body of a lichen.
Arachnoid – covered with, or formed of, delicate interwoven hairs or fibres.
Arbuscules – (of fungi) intricately branched haustoria in cortex cells.
Archaeophyte -
a plant that was introduced to our area by man (or arrived naturally from an area in which it was present as an introduction) and became naturalised before AD 1500.
Archegonium – the female reproductive organ, typically a flask-shaped structure, the swollen part of which (the venter) encloses the egg (ovum).
Arcuate - 1. Moderately curved. 2. In mosses, refers to a capsule bent in a curve like a bow.
Areolate – adj. of areola – any small circular area.
Argillaceous schist - metamorphic rock that exhibits fine laminations of clay materials.
Ascomycete - a fungus producing asci.
Ascospores - sexual spores formed by ascomycetes, e.g. lichen.
Ascus (pl. asci) - a sac-like cell that contain ascospores (lichen).
Attenuate - tapering gradually.
Autoecious – having male and female organs on the same plant, but in separate inflorescences.
Autoecological – The study of the ecology of an individual plant or species, the opposite of synecology.
Autogamy - self-fertilization in plants. (adj. autogamous).
Autogenous – self-fertilised.
Awn - a stiff, bristle-like projection, especially from grass seeds or grains.
Axil (adj. axillary) – the angle between the upper surface of a branch or leafstalk and the stem from which it grows.
B.P. – abbreviation for before present.
Basal – at, of, or constituting a base.
Basalt - a dark fine-grained volcanic rock that sometimes displays a columnar structure.
Basicole - a plant that lives on soil of high base status.
Basicolous – of a plant that lives on soils of high base status.
Basiphile – a plant that tends to be restricted to basic soils.
Baulk – raised dry peat.
Beak - a narrow, usually apical, projection.
Biennial - completing its life cycles in more than one, but less than two years, not flowering in the first year.
Bifid – divided into two lobes by a median cleft.
Bilobed – divided into two lobes.
Bipinnate (2-pinnate, twice pinnate) - pinnate with the pinnae themselves pinnate. Twice divided in a pinnate structure; generally on ferns.
Blanket bog – wetland that receives more than c 1000mm of rainfall per year, resulting in build-up of deep peat on level to moderately-sloping ground.
Boreal – regions of high latitude, where the natural vegetation is dominated by coniferous forest.
Boulder Clay – an unstratified glacial deposit consisting of fine clay, boulders and pebbles.
Bract - a leaf-like structure associated with an inflorescence or flower.
Bracteole – a secondary or small bract (also known as a bractlet).
Bryophyte - a member of the division of plants (Bryophyta) which comprises the mosses and liverworts.
Bulbil - Bulb-like vegetative reproductive structure often with tip and sometimes side projections.
C horizon – of soils; subsurface layer, excluding bedrock, showing very little evidence of alterations but possibly containing accumulation of soluble salts, or showing evidence of gleying.
Calcareous - containing calcium carbonate; chalky.
Calcicole – species favouring rock or soil rich in lime or other bases, the expression ‘strict calcicole’ implying that a species will grow only in such conditions.
Calcifuge – literally ‘fleeing from lime’, hence in general applied to species that avoid lime-rich rock or soil; a strict calcifuge will grow only in the absence of lime. Since lime free soils are usually acidic, calcifuge plants may also be regarded as acidophilous.
Calyptra - a lid or hood. In mosses, the thin veil or hood covering the mouth of the capsule.
Calyx - the outer part (perianth) of the flower, usually green and formed of several divisions called sepals, that protects the bud.
Capitulum (pl. capitula)- a dense inflorescence of unstalked flowers shaped like a globe, or sometimes shaped flat as in the Daisy family, Compositae -
Canker - an open lesion in plant tissue caused by infection or injury.
Capsule - a dry fruit composed of more than one carpel that splits partly open at maturity.
Carpel - the combined unit of the female flower parts usually consisting of stigma, style and ovary.
Casual - an introduced plant that appears occasionally and briefly but does not become established.
Chockstone - a piece of rock that is jammed immovably in a crack.
Cilium (pl. cilia) – a hair-like out-growth.
Circumboreal - found all around the world in the northern hemisphere.
Cleistogamy - of flowers: self-pollinating and setting fertile seed but never opening.
Cline – a gradation of differences over a specified area.
Clinometer – instrument used in surveying for measuring an angle of inclination.
Clonal propagation – asexual reproduction, including vegetative spread, producing a clone of the parent plant.
Clone – group of plants with the same genetic makeup, derived from asexual reproduction.
Confluent - running into each other; blended into one.
Concave - (opposite: convex) an inwardly curved spherical shape.
Conidia (sing. conidium) - an asexual spore (lichen).
Conspecific - belonging to the same species.
Coppice - a thicket or copse of small trees; to cut a plant almost to the ground each year so as to produce more vigorous growth.
Cordate – heart-shaped with the point away from the stem.
Corm – underground storage organ formed from a swollen stem base.
Corolla - the petals of a flower; the inner perianth of distinct or connate petals.
Corrie - a steep-walled, semi circular basin in a mountain, caused by glacial erosion.
Cortex - Primary tissue of a stem or root, bounded externally by the epidermis, internally in the stem by the phloem, and in the root by the pericycle.
Corticolous – growing on the woody parts of trees and shrubs.
Corymbe – a raceme with the flower stalks becoming shorter towards the top, so that all the flowers are at approximately the same level (Corymbose: in the form of a corymbe).
Costa (pl. costae) – a mid-rib; in bryophytes, the longitudinal, multistratose median region of a thallus, sharply to rather weakly defined from the laminae.
Cotyledon - one of the first leaves to appear after germination (there may be one, two, or more); the foliar portion of the embryo as found in the seed.
Crenulate - finely toothed, with the teeth much rounded.
Crustose – crust-like; a form of lichen lacking a lower cortex (outermost layer) and rhizines (strands of hyphae found on the lower surface of many lichens) and having thalli (the main bodies) in contact with the substratum.
Cryptogams – plants and plant-like organisms that lack flowers or are not reproduced by seeds, e.g. including ferns, mosses, fungi and algae.
Cryostorage - storage under very cold temperatures
C-S-R Strategy Theory - a theory to describe the ‘lifestyles’ of plants, whereby each species can be described according to how it deals with stress (e.g. drought) and disturbance.
Cucullate - hooded or hood-shaped.
Cuspidate - tipped with a sharp, abrupt and rigid point (a cusp).
Cyme - an inflorescence in which each flower, in turn, is formed at the tip of a growing axis and further flowers are formed on branches arising below it. (adj. cymose).
Cyanobacteria - a group of bacteria containing a blue photosynthetic pigment and formerly regarded as algae.
Declined – sloping downwards.
Decumbent - lying down on the ground and tending to rise at the tip.
Dehiscent - breaking open at maturity to discharge seeds or spores.
Dentate – toothed, usually with the teeth directed outward.
Dioecious - bearing male and female sex organs on separate plants.
Denticulate - minutely toothed, usually with teeth directed outward.
Depauperate – starved or impoverished.
Dessication - drying out.
Dichotomously branched – In botany a dichotomy is the successive division and subdivision, as of a stem or branch of a plant.
Dicotyledon - the largest of two classes of flowering plants (angiosperms), characterised by having 2 seed leaves on germination.
Dioecious - having the 2 sexes on different plants.
DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid, a substance which is present in the cell nuclei of nearly all living organisms and is the carrier of genetic information.
DOMIN - a scale from 1 (lowest) -10 (highest) to describe the cover of a plant species.
Dormancy – period during which something is dormant.
Dormant - alive but not growing.
Dorsal - of a lateral organ, (relating to the side) facing away from the axis, i.e. the 'back of a thallus, facing away from the substratum.
Dorsoventral/Dorsiventral - relating to, involving, or extending along the axis joining the dorsal and ventral sides.
Draw down zone - (of freshwater bodies): the area of mud that becomes exposed during the summer months as the water level drops. Many, often rare, species of invertebrates lay their eggs or live in this habitat and 85% of wetland plant species that grow in ponds grow in this zone.
Dune slacks - the wet hollows between the sand hills and ridges of a dune system, in which a completely different kind of vegetation develops, varying according to the degree of water logging and the lime content of the sand.
Ectomycorrhizal – mycorrhizal association between a fungus and a vascular plant, in which the fungal filaments cover but do not penetrate the cells of the plant roots.
Electrophoresis - the motion of a charged particle in a colloid under the influence of an applied electric field.
Ellenberg Indicator Value - scores for a plant species on each of five environmental variables (light, moisture, pH, soil nitrogen, salt), which indicate the conditions under which the species is usually found wild in the UK. Does not necessarily indicate ideal growth conditions.
Ellipsoid – widest at or about the middle.
Endemic - having a natural distribution confined to a particular geographical region.
Endophytic fungi - live within and around plant tissues.
Endostome - inner ring of teeth at the mouth of a capsule.
Entire - without toothing or division.
Enzyme - a substance produced by a living organism and acting as a catalyst to promote a specific biochemical reaction.
Ephemeral - short-lived.
Epicalyx – a calyx-like structure outside but close to the true calyx.
Epichile – (Orchidaceae) the outer portion of the conspicuous lowermost petal of an orchid flower.
Epiphyte – a plant such as a moss that grows on another plant but is not parasitic on it.
Erecto-patent - pointing upwards t an angle of about 20-40 degrees to the stem.
Eutrophic - of water bodies; with a high nutrient status (phosphorus and nitrogen), exhibiting high productivity. In the UK, naturally eutrophic lakes are rare. More commonly eutrophication is a result of pollution.
Eutrophication – release and build up of large quantities of nutrients (e.g. nitrogen & phosphorus) into water.
Exciple – the outer part of the fructification of most lichens.
Ex situ - (opposite: in situ) outside of its natural habitat
Facultative – able to exist under more than one set of environmental conditions.
Fascicle – cluster of branches.
Fecund - highly fertile; able to produce offspring.
Fecundity – fertility, ability to produce offspring.
Fibril – spiral wall thickenings in the hyaline cells.
Floret - a grass flower, together with the lemma and palea that enclose it.
Flow cytometry - analysis of biological material by detection of the light-absorbing or fluorescing properties of cells or subcellular fractions (i.e. chromosomes) passing in a narrow stream through a laser beam. An absorbance or fluorescence profile of the sample is produced. Automated sorting devices, used to fractionate samples, sort successive droplets of the analyzed stream into different fractions depending on the fluorescence emitted by each droplet.
Foliose – leaf-like, of lichen thalli with an upper and lower cortex seperable from the substratum.
Follicle - a dry, many-seeded fruit, formed from one carpel and dehiscing (splitting to release seeds at maturity) along one side only.
Fruticose – shrub-, beard- or worm-like, of lichen thalli ± radially symmetrical in cross section.
Fulvous – dull orange-brown colour.
Fusiform – spindle-shaped; swollen in the middle and narrowing toward each end.
Gabbro – a dark coarse-grained basic plutonic igneous rock consisting of plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, and often olivine.
Galbulus – the seed-producing cone of a tree of the cypress family.
Galleted – mortar joints filled in with small pebbles or stone chips.
Gametangium (pl. gametangia) – cell or organ in which gametes (sexual reproductive cells) are formed.
Gametoecium – (pl. gametoecia) gametangia and surrounding bracts.
Gametophyte – (see sporophyte) phase of plant life cycles in which the gametes, i.e., egg and sperm, are produced.
Geitonogamy - fertilization by pollen from other flowers on the same plant.
Gemma (pl. gemmae)
- a bud or body similar to a bud by which a plant propagates itself; Small asexual reproductive structure in liverworts and mosses that detaches from the parent and develops into a new individual.
Genome - the full set of chromosomes of an individual.
Genotype – the particular alleles at specified loci present in an organism; a group of organisms sharing a specific genetic constitution.
Genus - a principal taxonomic category that ranks above species and below family, denoted by a capitalized Latin name, e.g. Rosa.
Geomorphological - relating to land forms.
Germinate - (of a seed or spore) begin to grow and put out shoots after a period of dormancy.
Germination periodicity – germination occurring in repeated periods or cycles.
Glabrescent – becoming glabrous (smooth) with age.
Gland – cell or organ in a plant which produces and secretes a particular substance.
Globose - spherical or spheroidal.
Granite - a very hard rock consisting mainly of quartz, mica, and feldspar.
Granitic - a general term for intrusive igneous rocks that look similar to granite but may range in composition from quartz-diorite to granite. All granitic rocks are light coloured.
Gynodioecious - having both bisexual flowers and female flowers, but on separate plants.
Heath - an area of open uncultivated land, typically on sandy soil and covered with heather, gorse, and coarse grasses.
Hectad – a square 10 kilometres by 10 kilometres on the National Grid.
Hemicryptophyte – a plant which develops its resting buds just above or below the surface of the soil.
Hepatics – liverworts; non-flowering plants in the botanical class Hepaticae, closely related to mosses.
Herbaceous - relating to herbs (in the botanical sense).
Hermaphrodite – an individual organism that has both male and female reproductive organs.
Heterobasidioid – Heterobasidion is a genus of fungi.
Heterozygous – having two different allelomorphs in the two corresponding loci of a pair of chromosomes.
Holarctic - a distribution that more or less circles the Arctic.
The Holocene - the current warm period following the most recent glaciation that retreated around 11,500 calendar years before present.
Homosporous - producing spores of one kind only.
Homozygous - having identical genes (i.e. not having different allelomorphs) in the two corresponding loci of a pair of chromosomes.
Humic – relating to the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material.
Humus - the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant material.
Hyaline cell – empty, colourless or transparent cells, lacking chlorophyll, used for water storage and transport in Sphagnum.
Hybrid - an offspring of genetically different parents (in flora, usually applied where the parents are of different species).
Hybridogenous – plant derived from a cross between two genetically distinct parent species.
Hymenium - the spore-bearing layer of a fruiting body, containing asci, spores and paraphyses.
Hypertrophication – excessive input of nutrients.
Hypha – (pl. Hyphae) each of the branching filaments that make up the mycelium of a fungus.
Hypochile – (Orchidaceae) the basal part of the conspicuous lowermost petal of an orchid flower.
Hypothecium - fungal tissue between the hymenium and the exciple (if present), often pigmented, also known as the subhymenium.
Inbreeding depression - a depression of vigour or yield due to reproduction between genetically related individuals.
Indumentum – collective term for the hairs, glands or spines on a plant.
Inflorescence – any group of flowers on a stem or in a leaf axil, etc.
Infructescence - the grouping or arrangement in which fruits are borne on a plant.
Insolate -
put something in the sun: to expose something to sunlight.
Internode - the part of a plant stem found between two nodes.
Intragametophytic selfing - the ability for unreduced spores to give rise to gametophytes that can self-fertilise.
Involucral – bracts forming a more or less calyx-like structure round or just below the base of a usually condensed inflorescence.
Involucre - term used for several rather different kinds of enveloping organ in mosses and liverworts; eg the sheath surrounding each group of archegonia (and later sporangia) in Sphaerocarpos, Marchantia, etc; the flap or tube protecting the archegonia (and later surrounding the base of the calyptra) in Pellia spp.; enlarged bracts surrounding the base of the perianth in some leafy liverworts.
Isidia – finger-like outgrowths from the upper cortex (uppermost layer of the main body) of a lichen.
Isozymes - variants of the same enzyme that can be separated on special conducting media using electrophoresis.
Jurassic – of, denoting, or formed in the second period of the Mesozoic era, between the Triassic and Cretaceous periods.
Keeled – having at least one sharp edge like the keel of a boat.
Kettle hole – enclosed depression in glacial deposits.
Laciniate – slashed, divided into narrow pointed lobes.
Lagg zone – peripheral part of bog, often higher in nutrients than main peat-body.
Lamellae (sing. lamella) – thin, flat plates or laterally flattened ridges more or less perpendicular to the surface from which they arise; small leaf-like appendages on the dorsal surface of a costa; acid crystals of lichens shaped in this way.
Lamina - the expanded portion of a leaf.
Lanceolate – shaped like a long narrow lance with a gradual taper from the base to the tip.
Lanceolate-subulate – slender or tapering and flattened into a narrow elipse in cross-section, awl-shaped.
Lateral lobe – one of the lobes on the sides of the stem of a divided leaf.
Lauriphyll – type of forest found in Mediterranean area and dominated by large leaved evergreen trees/bushes.
Layering – a method of propagation in which stems come into contact with the soil long enough to take root and develop a “separate” plant from the parent.
Leprose - rough to the touch, covered with scales.
Lichenicolous – growing on lichens.
Lingulate – tongue-shaped.
Lipid - any of a class of fats that are insoluble in water and include many natural oils, waxes, and steroids.
Linear-lanceolate - sword like.
Lithomorphic – very shallow soils (< 30 cm) over rock, rubble or little-altered sediment, eg rankers (on non-calcareous rock) and rendzinas (on calcareous rock).
Liverwort - a small flowerless green plant with leaf-like stems or lobed leaves, lacking true roots and reproducing by spores.
Locus (pl. loci) - 1. the position that a given gene occupies on a chromosome, 2. the place where something happens.
Longevity – life-span.
Lyrate – leaf with a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral lobes.
Machair - (in Scotland) low-lying coastal land formed from sand and shell fragments deposited by the wind.
Macronutrient – any substance, such as carbon, hydrogen, or oxygen, that is required in large amounts for healthy growth and development.
Margin - the border of a leaf.
Massula (pl. massulae) – filamentous strand that nourishes developing pollen grains in the anther in some plants.
Matorral – dry land vegetation.
Mazedium - powdery, black soot-like spore mass (lichen).
MCPA – (4-Chloro-2-Methylphenoxy) Acetic Acid. Component of herbicides.
Medulla – the central tissue of a structure; the inner part of the thallus (main body) of a lichen, lacking algae, usually of loosely packed fungal tissue.
Meristem - the undifferentiated tissue from which new cells are formed, e.g., the tips of roots or stems; the growing tip.
Mesic – of, relating to, or growing in conditions of medium water supply.
Mesotrophic – with intermediate levels of mineral plant nutrients.
Metalled - a road covered with small or crushed stones.
Metamorphic rock - rock that has been transformed by extreme heat and pressure.
Metapopulations - population of populations in discrete patches linked by migration and extinction.
Microclimate - the climate of a very small or restricted area.
Microtope – actively-growing, upper layer of a bog consisting of the living parts of Sphagnum and into which vascular plants are rooted.
Midrib – the vein running down the middle of a leaf, in bryophytes more commonly termed the nerve or costa.
Minerotrophic – receiving nutrients from groundwater containing dissolved minerals.
Mitriform - shaped like a mitre or cap.
Monocarpic – a plant that flowers once only before it dies.
Monoecious - having separate male and female flowers on the same plant.
Montane – of or inhabiting mountainous regions.
Morphology - the study of the form and structure of an organism.
Mucilage - slimy material exuded by certain plants or organs. adj. mucilaginous.
Mucronate – ending in an abrupt short point.
Muirburn – the practice of periodically burning strips of heather to create a mosaic of short and long heather favoured by red grouse.
Mull humus – organic matter in soils that is very well decomposed.
Mycorrhizae - modified roots consisting of a mutually beneficial relationship between plant roots and fungi. Plants support fungi by providing sugar and a hospitable environment. Fungi support plants by providing increased surface area for water uptake and by selectively absorbing essential minerals.
National Vegetation Classification - a system to describe British vegetation types, whereby each vegetation type has a different ‘code’, (Rodwell, 1991).
Natural Selection - the evolutionary process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Naturalised - introduced and reproducing itself without human assistance.
Node - The part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge.
Nuclear microsatellites - sections of DNA composed of repeats of short motifs arranged in tandem. Their high polymorphism is attributed to relatively high rates of error during DNA replication (slippage) and during recombination (unequal crossover). Microsatellites are used as DNA markers for a variety of purposes, including investigating genetic diversity, both within and between species. Microsatellites are also suitable markers to investigate intra-specific gene-flow and demographic parameters such as population size fluctuation.
Oblanceolate – lanceolate but attached at the narrow end.
Obtuse - with a point greater than 90 degrees.
Oligotrophic – poor in mineral nutrients.
Ombrotrophic – receiving nutrients solely from rainwater.
Oolite - (oolith/ooid) a sphere typically consisting of several concentric layers of calcite or aragonite (forms of calcium carbonate) that was created by precipitation in the supersaturated warm waters of shallow tropical seas. The term may also be applied to an oolitic rock (a rock composed of many compressed oolites).
Operculum - lid of capsule.
Orchidaceous – plant belonging to the family Orchidaceae (orchids).
Out-breeding - the breeding of distantly related or unrelated individuals, often producing a hybrid of superior quality.
Out-crossing - the crossing of plants that are not closely related.
Ovate - egg-shaped with the broader end at the base.
Ovoid - egg shaped, a three dimensional shape about twice as long as wide.
Ovule - organ containing the embryo-sac (containing the egg) that develops into the seed following fertilisation.
Panicle – a branched raceme.
Panmixis – random mating, regardless of genotype.
Papillae (sing. papilla) – minute, solid, rounded projections on a surface, as on a cell wall, on the exine of a spore, or on either the upper cortex (outermost layer of the main body) or lower surface of various lichens.
Pappus – a tuft of hairs or bristles (derived from the calyx), found on the end of the fruit.
Parasymbiont – a species of organism neither being a true parasite nor a symbiont with a different species of organism, and able to express either association as circumstances demand.
Pauciennial – with a life span of only a few years.
Patent – leaves and branches which spread out widely from the stem.
Peat-hagging – erosion of peat resulting in formation of gullies, peat cliffs and residual peat blocks, due to desiccation of peat.
Peduncle - a primary flower stalk, supporting either a cluster or a solitary flower.
Pendent - hanging down.
Perennate -
survive between growing seasons: to survive from one growing season to the next with reduced or arrested growth between seasons
Perennial - living more than two years.
Perianth – a tube-like or purse-like structure surrounding the archegonia in liverworts and commonly forming the most conspicuous feature of the female ‘inflorescence’.
Perichaetium (pl. perichaetial, adj. perichaetial) - a whorl of bracts at the base of reproductive organs. In mosses, those surrounding the archegonia and base of the seta.
Peristome - the fringe surrounding the mouth of the capsule upon removing the lid.
Petiole - the stalk of a leaf that attaches to the stem.
Phanerogam – the seed plant - gymnosperms or angiosperm. The term literally means "open wedding" and refers to the fact that reproduction in these plants was clearly understood unlike the case in lower plants (Cryptogams) in which it was for a long time something of a mystery.
Phenotype - the physical characteristics of an organism; the outward expression of characteristics conferred on an organism by its genotype.
Phorophyte – the plant host of an epiphytic plant.
Photobiont - a green algal or cyanobacterial partner occurring in lichens.
Photomicrograph – a photograph of a microscope image.
Phyllary - one of the bracts under the flower head of a plant, especially in the Daisy family - Compositae.
Phytosociological - relating to the description of plant communities and vegetation types.
Pinna - the primary division of a more than 2-pinnate leaf.
Pinnate – a compound leaf with more than 3 leaflets arranged in opposite pairs along the leaf stalk.
Pinnatifid – leaf pinnately cut (cut into more than three leaflets) but not all the way to the central stalk.
Plane - flat.
Plastid - Any of several pigmented cytoplasmic organelles found in plant cells and other organisms, having various physiological functions, such as the synthesis and storage of food.
The Pleistocene - the epoch of the Quaternary preceding the Holocene, characterised by alternating glacial/interglacial cycles.
Pleurocarpous – bearing the archegonia, and hence the seta and capsule (fruit), on a short side-branch, and not the tip of the main stem or branch.
Podentia - the hollow, upright structures of club lichens.
Podsol - soil with a strongly developed leached zone out of which the minerals have been washed (podsolization – the process that produces podsols).
Pollinium (pl. pollinia) – (Orchidaceae) a number of pollen grains attached to each other.
Polymorphic - having more than two distinct morphological variants.
Porphyritic - of or relating to porphyry; having distinct crystals (as of feldspar) in a relatively fine grained base.
Porphyry - a rock consisting of feldspar crystals embedded in a compact dark red or purple ground mass. An igneous rock of porphyritic texture.
Postical - (of the position of plant parts) behind another part; posterior.
Propagule - a structure with the capacity to give rise to a new plant, e.g. a seed, a spore, part of the vegetative body capable of independent growth if detached from the parent.
Prothallus – the small flat free-living green disc of tissue that bears the re-productive organs.
Protocorm – (Orchidaceae) whitish, rounded body formed after orchid seed germinates, following infection by mycorrhizal fungi.
Protonema - the green, branched, alga-like threads produced from the spore and often persistent during the lifetime of the plant produced from it. The green filamentous growth that arises from spore germination in liverworts and mosses and eventually gives rise to a mature gametophyte.
Pruina - a frost-like or flour-like surface covering, usually crystalline.
Pruinose – coated with a powdery or waxy bloom.
Putative - thought, assumed, or alleged to be such or to exist.
Pycnidium (pl. pycnidia) – a rounded or flask-shaped asexual fruiting body containing spores found in certain fungi.
Raceme - a more or less elongated inflorescence in which the lowest flower opens first and then the others in sequence towards the tip, which can continue to form new buds.
Raised beach - beach that has been raised above the present-day shoreline and is therefore no longer washed by the sea.
Raised mire – wetland that receives water from rainfall characterised by the formation of large domes of Sphagnum peat.
Ramet - an individual member of a clone.
Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA – genetic markers that can be used to assess whether populations are uniclonal.
Ranked – arranged in vertical rows.
RAPD – rapid analysis of polymorphic DNA.
Ray – any strand of tissue that runs radially through the vascular tissue of some higher plants.
Recurved – to be curved or bent back or down.
Refugia - areas that have not been exposed to great environmental changes and disturbances undergone by the region as a whole. Refugia provide conditions suitable for survival of species that may be declining elsewhere.
Relevée - non-random vegetation sample or stand deliberately and carefully selected as a representative area of a particular vegetation type.
Rendzina - a shallow calcareous soil that develops where limestone / chalk is the parent material.
Reticulate - veined in the form of a net.
Rhizine – in a lichen, root-like outgrowth of fungal filaments acting as an attachment organ.
Rhizoid – a delicate, unicellular tubular extension of an external cell; arising postically or ventrally, serving to anchor the gametophyte to the substrate, smooth or internally tuberculate.
Rhizome – an underground stem lasting more than one season.
Rimose - having a surface covered in a network of cracks and small crevices.
Riparian – inhabiting or situated on the banks of a river.
Rostellate - with a short beak.
Rostellum – (some Orchidaceae) a third stigma, in the form of a sterile non-receptive protrusion.
Rotovation - to break up (the surface of the earth, or an area of ground) using a rotovator.
Rotovator - machine used for rotovation.
Ruderal species – ‘weedy’ species – good colonisers that are often a pioneer of bare substrates.
Rudimentary - at an early stage of development.
Runcinate – pinnately lobed, with the lobes directed backwards towards the base of the leaf.
Sagittate – shaped like the head of an arrow.
Saltways - ancient routes associated with salt industries.
Saprophytic - deriving nourishment from decaying organisms, usually leaf mould.
Saxicolous - a saxicolous lichen grows on rocks.
Scabrid – having a rough or scaly surface.
Scarification - to scar or nick the seed coat to enhance germination.
Scarious - having a dry membranous appearance; stiff; thin and tough; bract-like.
Schist – a medium grained acidic metamorphic rock that can be split into thin layers because its micaceous layers and minerals have been aligned in thin parallel bands.
Schwingmoor – floating Sphagnum-dominated vegetation forming over deep pools or basins.
Scree – an accumulation of weathered rock fragments at the foot of a cliff or hillside, often forming a sloping heap (also called Talus).
Scriefing – disturbing the soil surface.
Scrub - vegetation consisting mainly of brushwood or stunted forest growth; land covered with such vegetation.
Secund – strongly bent to one side.
Seed Bank - the reservoir of viable seeds present in the soil.
Self-incompatibility – inability of a plant to fertilise itself.
Senescence - the process of ageing in a plant or plant part (e.g. leaf) from full maturity to death.
Sensu lato - broadly speaking; broad definition.
Sensu stricto - strictly speaking; strict definition.
Septate – divided by partitions.
Septum - a wall or membrane dividing the ovary into cells.
Seral – a stage in the process of succession before the ultimate or climax stage (which occurs when a plant’s ecosystem has reached a point of stability).
Serpentine – a dark green mineral consisting of a silicate of magnesium, sometimes mottled or spotted like a snake’s skin. Not normally seen at the Earth’s surface, it forms over half the area of the Lizard Peninsula and found nowhere else in northern Europe. After forming in the Earth’s crust beneath a deep ocean 380 million years ago, the Lizard was torn up and pushed onto land by a collision between continents.
Serrate - toothed, with asymmetrical teeth pointing forward.
Sessile – attached directly without a stalk.
Seta - bristle or hair, a slender, usually rigid bristle or hair.
Sexual Selection - selection driven by the competition for mates, considered an adjunct to natural selection.
Sheel-sand - sand made from eroded shells.
Siliqua – a fruit in the form of a dry, elongated pod formed from two carpels, occurring in plants of the family Cruciferae.
Silviculture - the cultivation of trees.
Sinuate - with deep, wave- like depressions along the margin.
Skeletal brown loam – loam (soil containing sand, silt and clay in roughly equal portions) containing more than 35% stony material.
Somatic embryogenesis - Somatic embryogenesis refers to the initiation of embryos from previously differentiated somatic cells. Somatic embryogenesis initiated from immature seed embryos has the potential to produce infinite numbers of somatic plants via in vitro tissue culture. One advantage of the method is the possibility to store embryogenic cultures in liquid nitrogen (cryopreservation), and by that retain propagation potential over time.
Soralium - (in lichens) a structure or region of a thallus bearing soredia.
Soredium (pl. soredia)– small, powdery propagule containing a few algal cells and fungal hyphae.
Spathulate (alt. spatulate) - gradually narrowing downward from a rounded summit; spoon-shaped; paddle-shaped.
Spermatozoid - a ciliated male gamete produced in an antheridium.
Spike - a racemose inflorescence in which the flowers have no stalks.
Sporangium - a body producing spores
Spore - a minute, typically single-celled, reproductive unit characteristic of lower plants, fungi, and protozoans.
Spore Bank - the reservoir of viable spores in the soil.
Sporeling - a young plant produced by a germinated spore.
Sporophyte - (see gametophyte) the alternate phase of the plant life cycle is the sporophyte, the diploid plant form, with each cell containing two complete sets of chromosomes.
Squamule - a small, scale-like growth found at the base of club lichens.
Stem cortex – the outermost rows of cells in a cross section of the stem.
Stereomicroscope - a microscope having a set of optics for each eye to make an object appear in three dimensions.
Stochastic – based on probabilities; random.
Stoloniform - like a stolon - a slender creeping stem with minute leaves, an underground stem.
Stoma - (pl. stomata) a very small opening or pore through the plant's epidermis, through which respiration and transpiration occurs, surrounded by two guard cells. The stoma is usually capable of active opening and closing through changes in shape of the guard cells.
Stomatal band - a dense surface layer of stomata on the upper leaf surface (of Juniper needles).
Strand-line - high-tide line.
Stratum (pl. strata) – a layer of any material, esp. one of parallel layers.
Strategy – A behaviour evolved and exhibited by a living organism to accomplish some important goal.
Stress tolerance – (of an organism) a tolerance of any adverse stimulus, internal or external, that tends to disturb homeostasis.
Subacute – leaf apex almost acute, with a point < 90 degrees.
Subcordate - sub (prefix) - nearly, not quite, somewhat; cordate - heart-shaped.
Submontane – land just below the tree line, or vegetation occurring in this zone.
Subobtuse - sub (prefix) - nearly, not quite, somewhat; obtuse – blunt.
Subsessile - with a slight stalk.
Substrate - the surface or material on which an organism lives, grows, or feeds.
Subtended - to be just below and close up to or enclosed in its axil.
Succession – the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established.
Succulent - a plant having fleshy stems or leaves, often adapted to an extremely dry habitat.
Supralittoral - supra (prefix) above; littoral – shallow-water zone of lakes or the sea, with light penetration to the bottom.
Sward - an area of turf or grass.
Symbiont – organism in a symbiotic relationship.
Symbiosis - the living together of different species of organisms that may or may not be to their mutual benefit. (adj. symbiotic).
Taproot - the main root of a plant, having a single, dominant axis and often combining the functions of structural support and food storage.
Taxon (pl. taxa) – a group of plants of a particular taxonomic rank (e.g. family, genus or species).
Taxonomy - the classification of organisms based on genetic similarities.
Terminal lobe – lobe at the end of the stem of a divided leaf.
Thallose – having the form of a thallus.
Thallus (pl. thalli) - the lichen body containing the fungus and photobiont layers. (adj. thalloid).
Tricornute – three-horned.
Trophic conditions - amount of nutrients (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus) present.
Truncate - ending abruptly, as if cut off transversely.
Tuber - a thickened underground part of a stem or rhizome, e.g. that of the potato, bearing buds from which new plants grow.
Umbel – a racemose inflorescence, characteristic of umbelliferous plant, in which the flowers arise from the same point in the main stem and have stalks of the same length, to give a cluster with the youngest flowers at the centre.
Underleaves – a row of leaves, usually smaller than the lateral ones, along the under-side of the stem in many liverworts; sometimes called amphigastria.
Undulate - with a wavy surface.
Uniclonal – consisting of one clone.
Unistratose - one-layered, comprised of a single cell layer: e.g. most bryophyte leaves.
Vascular - relating to or denoting the system of vessels for carrying sap, water, and nutrients.
Valve - one of the pieces into which a dehiscing capsule splits.
Vegetative reproduction - a reproductive process that is asexual and so does not involve a recombination of genetic material. It involves unspecialized plant parts which may become reproductive structures (such as roots, stems, or leaves).
Vegetative spread – any mechanism by which a plant spreads, other than by seed production (e.g. rhizomes or runners).
Verticil - a whorl or circular arrangement of similar parts around an axis.
Vesicles - storage structures formed by many fungi.
Vesicular-arbuscular Mycorrhizae - associations produced by Glomalean fungi involving vesicles or arbuscules or both.
Vice-counties - divisions, 12 in Great Britain and 40 in Ireland, into which these countries are split for the purposes of botanical records.
Viscidium – (Orchidaceae) white sticky cap secreted by rostellum, which assists in attaching the pollinia to a pollinator.
Wave-cut platform - gently sloping rock surface found at the foot of a coastal cliff, covered by water at high tide but exposed at low tide.
Whorl - a group of lateral organs borne more than two at each node.
Wind-pruning – damage to plants from coastal winds carrying sand that abrades leaf tissues, resulting in leaf drop and shoot dieback.
Xeric – of, relating to, or growing in dry conditions.
Xerophytic - plants that are adapted to live in conditions of extreme heat, drought and low humidity for long periods of time.
Zygomorphic – (of a flower) capable of being cut in only one plane so that the two halves are mirror images.
Site designations
NNR National Nature Reserve
SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest
SAC Special Area of Conservation
ESA Environmentally Sensitive Area
References
Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. & Moore, D.M. (1987). Flora of the British Isles. 3rd edition. University press, Cambridge.
Dobson, Frank S. (1979). An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species. Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd., Slough.
Kent, M. & Coker, P. (1992) Vegetation Description and Analysis – A Practical Approach. Wiley, London.
Paton, Jean A. (1999). The Liverwort Flora of the British Isles. Harley books.
Ratcliffe, D.A. (ed) (1977). A Nature Conservation Review. Volume 1. Cambridge University press.
Rose, Francis (1981). The Wild Flower Key – British Isles – N.W. Europe. Frederik Warne.
Purvis, W. (2000). Lichens. The Natural History Museum.
Purvis, O.W., Coppins, B.J., Hawksworth, D.L., James, P.W. & Moore, D.M. The Lichen Flora of Great Britain and Ireland. NHM, published in association with the British Lichen Society.
Watson, E.V. (1981). British Mosses and Liverworts. 3rd edition. Cambridge University Press.
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